Survey: January Car Sales Rise 15%

January light-vehicle sales in the U.S. are expected to rise 15% to 1,050,938 units. That figure translates to seasonally adjusted annualized rate, or SAAR, of 15.4 million new cars — the highest January level since 2008, according to research and forecasting company TrueCar.com.

The study said retail sales are up about 14% compared with the year-earlier period but down almost 20% December 2012. Sales to commercial and rental companies are expected to account for about 17% of total industry sales this month.

TrueCar said it expects incentive spending to average about $2,274 per car for the month, which is down 8.35 from a year ago and down 12% from last month December 2012.

The following TrueCar charts show forecasts for sales, market share and incentive spending for the top eight car makers for January.